Three-Time U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo Headlines 2025 Native American Arts Festival Week
The Idyllwild Arts Native American Arts Festival Week returns to the Idyllwild Arts campus from Monday, June 16, through Friday, June 20. Now in its third decade, the celebration enhances the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program through a variety of Native American arts-focused activities. Executive Director Shaliyah Ben (Diné) leads the event, which includes an invitational exhibition, tastings of traditional Native cuisine, the Michael Kabotie Lecture Series, a curated film evening, the Welcoming Home the Birds event and a staged reading of the latest play by three-time U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (Mvskoke) featuring jazz trumpeter Delbert Anderson (Diné).
The week begins Monday, June 16, with the invitational exhibition “Renegades of Art,” curated by Pamela Peters (Diné). Four artists will showcase works conveying the strength and cultural resilience of tribal nations through murals, mixed media and tribal presence. The artist/curator-led panel discussion starts at 7:00 p.m. in the Parks Exhibition Center on campus, followed by a reception with a Native foods tasting at 7:45 p.m.
This year’s Michael Kabotie Lecture Series features poet and performer Kinsale Drake (Diné), N8ive Beauty cosmetics creator and host of PBS/FNX series “This is Indian Country” Ruth Ann Thorn (Luiseño), and Yup’ik song and dance with Ossie from Inuit-soul band PAMYUA. The festival also includes a screening of the documentary “Indian Alley,” written and directed by Pamela Peters (Diné).
The week concludes on Friday, June 20, with Welcoming Home the Birds, honoring the relationship the Cahuilla and Serrano have with their traditional homelands. This family-friendly event begins at 5:00 p.m. with a Native artist marketplace, hands-on activities for all ages, and Native song and dance performances. Bird Singing starts at 7:45 p.m. Idyllwild Arts acknowledges the Qawishpa Cahuillangnah (also known as the Cahuilla Band of Indians) on whose land the Idyllwild Arts community resides.
Located on a 205-acre campus in the San Jacinto Mountains, Idyllwild Arts Academy was recently ranked by Niche as the #1 High School for Arts in America, and prides itself on providing the tools for young artists hailing from more than 30 countries to leverage their imaginations to change themselves and the world around them.
Idyllwild Arts Academy is located at 52500 Temecula Road, Idyllwild-Pine Cove, CA 92549. For the complete schedule of workshops and events, visit idyllwildarts.org/nativeamericanarts.
